After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C. and Aristotle in 322, several social shifts in Greece led to the emergence of different philosophies. Political life in Greece changed dramatically. Wars between Greek city-states robbed their independence, alienating the average citizen from participation in government. With this disillusionment over institutions such as government came a decline in popular religion. People now longed for more individual, practical philosophies of life. The two most popular philosophies to emerge during the Hellenistic (or quasi-Greek) period were Epicureanism and Stoicism.